1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a housing structure for an electronic equipment, e.g., a personal paging receiver, and, more particularly, to the structure of a battery storage portion in the housing of an electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an electronic equipment of this type, a compact cylindrical battery, e.g., AA, AAA, and N batteries, is often used as the power supply. These batteries are expendable supplies. To continuously use the equipment, the dead battery must be removed from the equipment and be exchanged for a new one. For this purpose, an opening portion serving as the battery inlet/outlet port is formed in the outer surface of the equipment housing, and the battery can be loaded in and unloaded from a battery storage chamber in the housing. The battery stored in the battery storage chamber will not drop because of a battery cover closing the opening portion of the housing.
FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing the structure of a general battery storage portion adopted in the conventional electronic equipment. An opening portion 22 having a size matching the size of a battery to be stored is usually formed in part of a housing 21, and a battery storage chamber 23 is formed to oppose this opening portion 22. The opening portion 22 can be closed with a battery cover 24 having a size matching the size of the opening portion 22. The battery cover 24 is formed by combining two thin plates into an L shape, and closes the opening portion of the housing to prevent the stored battery from dropping. A coil-type negative spring terminal 25 which comes into elastic contact with the negative terminal of the battery and a positive terminal 26 which comes into tight contact with the positive terminal of the battery are arranged on the two end portions of the battery storage chamber 23.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II--II of FIG. 1. When a battery X is stored in the battery storage chamber 23, it is held as its positive terminal is urged by a projection 26a projecting from the positive terminal 26b with the negative spring terminal 25.
To remove the battery X, the battery cover 24 is slid in the direction of an arrow G in FIG. 2 to open the opening portion 22, and the battery X is pulled out from the housing 21 by having the positive terminal end portion of the battery X caught on the nail or the like. Then, as indicated by an alternate long and two short dashes line in FIG. 2, the positive terminal of the battery X is released from the positive terminal 26, and the battery X is pushed by the negative spring terminal 25, so that it is held such that its positive terminal projects from the battery storage chamber 23. In this state, the projecting portion of the battery X is held again, so that the battery can be removed.
The spring used as the negative terminal of the housing is often a strong one in order to prevent instantaneous disconnection between the chamber terminal and the battery terminal caused by dropping impact of the equipment or a decrease in contact resistance between the chamber terminal and the battery terminal. Therefore, when removing the battery, if the battery is removed from the housing by having the positive terminal portion of the battery caught on the nail or the like, as in the conventional case, an excessive load is applied to the nail or the like, and the battery cannot sometimes be easily removed. In particular, in a small battery, the gap between the positive terminal of the battery and the housing is small, and it is often difficult to insert a nail or the like in this gap.
In order to solve the above problem, the present applicant has proposed the invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-38934. In this prior invention, as shown in FIG. 3, a projection 38 for pressing the battery is formed at a position of the inner surface of the housing of a battery cover 34 near the negative terminal of a battery X to project in the direction of thickness of the battery cover 34. A recessed portion 37 is formed in a surface of a battery storage chamber 33 that opposes an opening portion 32 to be near a negative spring terminal 35.
FIGS. 4A to 4C are sectional views taken along the line IV--IV of FIG. 3. FIG. 4A shows a state wherein the battery cover 34 is closed completely. At this time, the projection 38 does not act on the battery X. As the battery cover 34 is opened, the projection 38 becomes close to the battery X, as shown in FIG. 4B. When the battery cover 34 is further opened, the projection 38 comes into contact with the outer surface of the negative terminal of the battery X, as shown in FIG. 4C, to press this portion in a direction opposite to the opening portion 32. More specifically, the negative terminal portion of the battery X is urged against the recessed portion 37, and the positive terminal of the battery X projects from the housing 31 due to the reaction. As a result, the conventional operation of removing the battery X from the housing by having the positive terminal portion of the battery X caught on a nail or the like becomes unnecessary.
In the prior invention described above, the recessed portion 37 is formed in the battery storage chamber 33. When the negative terminal of the battery is urged against a portion opposite to the opening portion 32, the positive terminal of the battery can project from the housing 31, and the end portion of the battery need not be pulled out from the housing 31. However, the recessed portion 37 may adversely affect the outer appearance of the housing 31. Depending on the structure of the housing 31, the recessed portion 37 cannot be formed.